Six Sigma is a quality management program that measures and improves the operational performance of a company by identifying and correcting defects in the company’s processes and products. The Greek letter sigma is sometimes used to denote variation from a standard.
It was started in Motorola, in its manufacturing division, where millions of parts are made using the same process repeatedly. Eventually Six Sigma evolved and applied to other non manufacturing processes. It was later picked up and followed by other large companies such as AlliedSignal (now known as Honeywell) and finally General Electric, who ultimately popularized the process. It has since spread to many other large companies, including Ford, Caterpillar, Raytheon, Seagate Technology, Microsoft, Siemens and many more.
The philosophy behind Six Sigma is that if you measure how many defects are in a process, you can figure out how to systematically eliminate them and get as close to perfection as possible. In order for a company to achieve Six Sigma, it cannot produce more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities.
There are two Six Sigma processes: Six Sigma DMAIC and Six Sigma DMADV, each term derived from the major steps in the process. Six Sigma DMAIC is a process that defines, measures, analyzes, improves, and controls existing processes that fall below the Six Sigma specification. Six Sigma DMADV defines, measures, analyzes, designs, and verifies new processes or products that are trying to achieve Six Sigma quality. All Six Sigma processes are executed by Six Sigma Green Belts or Six Sigma Black Belts, which are then overseen by a Six Sigma Master Black Belts, terms created by Motorola.
Six Sigma incorporates the basic principles and techniques used in Business, Statistics, and Engineering. These three form the core elements of Six Sigma. Six Sigma improves the process performance, decreases variation and maintains consistent quality of the process output. This leads to defect reduction and improvement in profits, product quality and customer satisfaction.
Six Sigma methodology is also used in many Business Process Management initiatives these days. These Business Process Management initiatives are not necessarily related to manufacturing. Many of the BPM’s that use Six Sigma in today’s world include call centers, customer support, supply chain management and project management.
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Nice work. However, your statement of “Six Sigma has two process” is not accurate.
Though it is largely vague in terms of “true” Six Sigma”, there are many processes applicable in the Six Sigma arena. in sight from my 12-year practising and teaching Six Sigma
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